Sunday, September 20, 2009

Dent Area Camp

This weekend we traveled down to a new campground down on Dworshak Reservoir. Four and a half hours after leaving Post Falls we entered Dent Camp Area. The road down to this area was good pavement, but Linda would say it had some extreme ups and downs. From Orifino the road climbs out of the valley, curves along the ridge tops, drops into the reservoir and then grinds up and drops down to the campground.

We found a good camp spot, all the camps have electricity, water and sewer hookups; and it only costs $10 a night! We chose the spot because of the shade and because the dog had a great area. Once we settled in we talked with Mike Wassmuth and his brother-in-law, Pat. They fished for about four hours and caught quite a few bass. After a bit Linda and I fixed dinner, then ate. It was late so we walked the dog and went to bed.
The next morning Mike and Pat went fishing very early. They stopped by our camper and picked up my fishing pontoon boat which they took down to the waters edge for me. It would have been a real workout if I had to carry it down by myself.
We ate breakfast and I got my fishing gear together, trudged down to the lake and put my boat in the water. I fished for about four hours and caught six fish. Now I was a bit crushed at the number of bass caught in the four hours of fishing, but later on in the weekend I found that fishing was hard and even the bass tournament participants had trouble catching the big ones. They caught a million of little ones, which even avoided my lures.

After Mike and Pat returned from their day of fishing we all met at their camp and ate dinner. They are ribs heated in boiling bags. We had chicken Alfredo, which we first soaked in water and then heated in a fry pan. I have to explain that Mike suggested we heat our meal in the boiling water like he did with his ribs. The problem was our bag had a hole in it. We boiled it for a while and then checked it and found that it was full of water. I drained the water that I could get out and then we heated it in the frying pan. It was still real good, plus it gave us a laugh.

Saturday I fished and Linda read her book. We fixed a potato Dutch oven meal that turned out real good. Mike and Pat came over and we talked. We went to bed early and then got up early and drove back home.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

From Eddies To Martin Stadium

Friday morning, I was in my office and reading my emails. The computer beeped and an all campus announcement popped into my in box. I opened it and scanned the contents and at the bottom of the note it said that I could win two tickets to the WSU Cougar football game if I replied first. I hit reply and typed in “did I win?” and sent it back. Within a minute I received confirmation that I could pick up the tickets by noon!

I contacted Linda and she was really excited! We were on our way to the Cougars Vs Stanford football game. In the phone conversation Linda told me that we had been invited out on John and Loretta’s boat for a little fishing and a cruise over to Eddie’s on Arrow Point for dinner. Within an hour, the weekend where we were scheduled to attend only one event had now been filled, pushing the fun factor to a greater height.

Friday evening we met John and Loretta at their boat slip and sat and had a few drinks. We really enjoy these get-togethers with the Sutherlands, the laughs and fun are always something we look forward to. After relaxing in the slip we motored out and John and I dropped two lines down with the down riggers, pulling herring with flashers. We motored out and talked of the various trips we had taken or we had planned, while we washed the bait at about 60 feet. John turned the boat and we headed for Eddie’s at Arrow point wherewe had dinner and enjoyed the sunset. It was a good dinner and a wonderful start of our three day weekend.

By 10:30 Saturday morning we were packed and ready to follow our neighbors; Steve, Jodi and Emily down to Pullman for the football game. Friday, when I got home from work, I asked Jodi some questions about where to park and how to access the stadium and she said they were attending the game also and invited us to join their tailgate party. We followed them down and parked next to their truck in a parking lot where they were meeting their friends from Walla Walla.

The tailgate party made me smile. We parked, and within minutes, both families had unpacked a tailgate feast of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and cookies. They cooked and ate and put everything away in about 45 minutes and then we were off to the stadium for the game. It was like an army laying siege to a small town and then moving on. Only this was much more organized.

We walked to the new bookstore and looked around, then entered Martin Stadium and split to find our seats. We had great seats, section 4, row 5, seats 3 & 4. Seats 1 & 2 must have been given to someone from NIC that didn’t attend so we had lots of room around us. Linda phoned Bridget Hill and we met her at half time. Bridget and Dennis were there with Dennis’s brother who had given then tickets. They were sitting at the opposite side of the stadium; we would have never met if it were not for text messaging.

Steve, Jodi and Emily were sitting in the end zone seats on the opposite end of the playing field. Jodi visited us once prior to the game and when we left for home at the start of the fourth quarter we exchanged text messages and thanked them for the tailgate party.

The Cougars were losing by a significant amount when we left, and we wanted to get home before dark and let the dog in the house. We really had a fun day at the game and plan to do it again if the opportunity pops up.